Rhetorical Analysis: Pearl Harbor Address To The Nation

Words: 274
Pages: 2

In the speech, “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation,” speaker Franklin Delano Roosevelt accentuates the importance of why Congress should permit the United States go to war with Japan. Roosevelt distinctly reinforces his argument through the literary techniques repetition and appeal to emotion.

To begin, Roosevelt employs repetition to emphasize the destruction the Japanese had inflicted on many. “Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong...Guam...the Philippine Islands...Wake Island…” By applying this technique, Roosevelt confirms that there is hostility emitting from Japan and continuing; “Japan has...undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area.” The speaker, Franklin Roosevelt, clearly inhibits in his speech